I'll be home for Christmas
by Malluchan
Summary: I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me. I'll be home for Christmas...if only in my dreams.
1. Chapter 1

Tsubasa skirts the door frame in a hurry, his suitcase clanking behind him against the shoes lined up beside the door.

He has to catch a plane, and he has a long way to go to the airport.

_I'll be home for Christmas,_

_You can count on me._

It is Christmas Eve. Tsubasa has promised himself that he'll make it back to headquarters in time for Christmas; it may mean he has a long overnight flight ahead of him, with many stops. But he will see his friends on Christmas day, no matter what the cost.

He has no car, and he doesn't have money for a taxi; he knows he isn't fast enough to make it to the airport on foot. Hitchhiking all the way there is his only option.

Minutes pass as Tsubasa stands at the side of the road with his thumb held out, and finally a white van stops in front of him.

_Please have snow and mistletoe,_

_And presents under the tree_

The window on the side facing him rolls down, and a woman sticks her head out. She looks worn and tired, but is willing to help this stranger.

It is Christmas eve, after all.

She smiles and asks him where he is going. Luckily for Tsubasa, she is headed his way to pick up her husband from the airport. Tsubasa gratefully opens the side door and slides in, only to be met by the curious faces of five children.

_I'll be home for Christmas,_

_You can plan on me_

Remembering his mission, he squeezes in between the two youngest in the far back and makes polite conversation as the van rolls along.

"Where you goin'?" asks the youngest girl, only about 4 years old.

"I'm going to catch a plane so I can see my friends at Christmas."

"You gonna miss it", says the little boy sitting on the other side. "Mama says all the planes leaved already."

"I'll try my best to catch it. I can't miss Christmas."

_Although it seems impossible,_

_I'll soon be there. You'll see._

"Didja bring presents for all you friends?"

"Yes."

"What you asked Santa Claus for dis year?" asks the little girl.

"I only want to go home this Christmas. That's all I ask for", he tells her.

"Where your friends lives?"

"In Japan."

"Dat's a long way away", says the little boy, gazing up at Tsubasa with newfound admiration. "It gonna take you all night to get there."

"Mommy says Japan is on the other side of the world", says the little girl.

"It is, it's all the way across the ocean."

"I hope you plane don't fall in."

"So do I."

_I'll be home this Christmas_

_I'll be coming home to all of you._

"You goin see you mom and dad when you go home?"

"No. I don't have parents."

"Oh, you a orphan?" The little girl hugs his hand.

"I guess so."

"Maybe Santa Claus bring you a new mom and dad for Christmas", says the girl as she drifts off to sleep in her carseat.

The little boy just stares at him and does not talk, so Tsubasa gazes out the window and thinks of how happy his friends will be to see him when he arrives in the morning.

_And there's nothing in the world_

_That can get in my way..._

Only a few stoplights lie between him and the airport. Soon he'll be on his way back to Japan.

Finally the lights of the runway flank the road on either side, separated from the path by high fences. They twinkle like Christmas ornaments on a tree.

In the parking lot, the mother has scarcely gotten out of the car when a man comes up and hugs her tightly. The children scramble out, the little girl is woken up, and Tsubasa smiles at their happy reunion for a moment before heading to the lobby.

_I'm dreaming tonight of a place I love, _

_Even more than I usually do_

Outside the airport, two teenagers stand with silver bells in their hands, ringing them gaily. It is a bit late for them to be out, but it is for a good cause: each holds a cardboard box with _Ellington Children's Home_ printed in marker on the front.

Tsubasa stops for a moment to drop a dollar in each box. They smile up at him from behind their snow hats.

"Thanks, man. You're helping to make Christmas morning special for some lil' kid out there", says the girl.

Tsubasa continues inside with a smile.

_Although I know it's a long way back_

_I can promise you_

He stops at the window for a moment, glancing out at the parking lot. The van that got him here now sits cold and empty; probably the family who helped him decided to eat a late dinner with the father they came for, in one of the cafes at the airport.

Tsubasa is just turning back towards baggage check when a little hand finds his through the pressing crowd. He looks down and is surprised to find the youngest child of the family who drove him here!

"You the Christmas guy", she says to him. "I finded you!"

He crouches down to her level. "Where is the rest of your family? You're supposed to stay together."

"They leaved to go to the Quizno's", she says. "But I losed them."

As he suspected, the family decided to eat together at a cafe. For the first time he notices dried tears on the little girl's face, and her expression of relief at finding a familiar face.

He decides he will help her find her family. It is Christmas eve, after all.

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_You can count on me_

The child reaches up her arms to him, and he scoops her up, tugging his suitcase along behind him. Tsubasa glances at a map and then heads towards the airport's food court. A Quizno's is distinctly marked on the map.

"Maybe YOU Santa Claus", says the little girl, turning her attention to him as he walks. "Santa Claus helps the kids. Maybe you was catchin' a plan so you can go to Japan to give the kids presents."

"No, I'm just me. I'm catching a plane so I can get home."

"I think you's Santa in disguise", she answers confidently. "I don't tell anybody. Susie keeps you secret."

Tsubasa doesn't protest any further.

_Please have snow and mistletoe_

_And presents under the tree_

They near the Quizno's and the little girl cries out happily. "I see mommy!"

Tsubasa follows her gaze and sees that her parents and siblings are standing outside the cafe, looking out concernedly into the crowd. He can hear the mother saying to the father, "Jim, I don't see her! She's gone! We have to tell airport security, Jim, do something. Please..."

Jim hugs her close and then sees Tsubasa emerging from the crowd with Susie. "There she is, Aedith! I knew she'd be alright!"

The happy family crowds around Tsubasa and hugs Susie tightly, the mother thanking Tsubasa and admonishing Susie at the same time.

_Christmas Eve will find me_

_Where the lovelight beams_

The family goes into Quizno's and the youngest boy exclaims loudly about a plane taking off outside. "Daddy, I heared a plane out dere!"

"That'll be the last flight of the night, Ethan", says the father, smiling at his son's interest in planes.

Last flight of the night? A sense of horror overtakes Tsubasa and he runs to the window.

_I'll be home for Christmas_

Sure enough, a plane has taken off. He watches as it soars over the airport runway, and the hangars slowly close on the sleeping planes, their light shutting off. Some remain open for incoming flights.

_If only in my dreams_

Tsubasa presses his forehead against the cold glass silently. A tear streams down his cheek.

It looks like he'll be spending Christmas alone this year.


	2. Chapter 2

The song 'Believe' belongs to Josh Groban.

* * *

A moment passes, and then Susie takes his hand.

Her family is at the counter ordering their dinner. She looks up at him with big eyes full of concern.

"You gonna go to you plane now?"

"I just missed it. It looks like I'm staying here for Christmas", he says, wiping the tears roughly from his eyes.

"But how you gonna take da presents to the kids now, Santa?"

"I'm not Santa Claus, I'm just me", he says again.

Susie hugs his hand.

"So you not gonna have Christmas with you friends?"

"I guess not."

Susie tugs on his hand until he looks down at her.

"You can have Christmas with us. Then you not be alone."

"It's okay, Susie. I'll be fine. I should get home." He gently pulls his hand from hers and says goodbye.

Heading towards the door, he hears her whisper softly, "Bye, Santa."

_Children sleeping, snow is softly falling_

_Dreams are calling softly in the distance_

Outside the two teenagers still stand with their boxes and bells. The boy turns to him as he walks out.

"Hey, din't you just go in?"

"I missed my flight."

His face falls. "Oh. I'm sorry. You got somebody to spend Christmas with here?"

"I don't. I guess I'll just call them tomorrow."

"Know what we're collecting money for?" asks the girl, tapping him on the shoulder. "We're throwing a big party at the children's home tomorrow. You're welcome to come if you like. Nobody should have to be alone at Christmas."

Tsubasa smiles and says maybe he'll drop by.

_We were dreamers not so long ago,_

_But one by one we all had to grow up_

_When it seems the magic's slipped away,_

_We find it all again on Christmas day._

Then he turns and walks past them, as they call out 'Merry Christmas' behind him. He waves over his shoulder and steps onto the sidewalk, dragging his heavy suitcase behind him.

All of a sudden he is so tired, so lonely. He tried so hard but he didn't make it. That was the last flight for two days, because even pilots and flight attendants need to spend Christmas with somebody.

As he walks down the street, snow starts to fall. He stops on the icy sidewalk and gazes up at the barely visible stars for a moment, when a streak of light passes overhead.

_I wish...I wish for someone to spend Christmas with._

And then he continues on towards home.

In the morning he wakes and smiles to himself; it's Christmas.

And then he remembers he's alone. There's nobody to give gifts to, nobody to wake up. He walks into his living room; the Christmas tree stands silent in the corner. He decorated it by himself.

Half-heartedly he plugs in the lights and then sits in front of it, watching them flash. Nobody filled his stocking last night; it hangs limp on the mantle.

_Trains move swiftly to their journey's end,_

_destinations are where we begin again._

He stands up determinedly. There is no sense in spending this beautiful Christmas day moping about. There are still things he can do.

He can find somebody in the park to have a snowball fight with. He can give a dollar to every Christmas donation fund he finds on the way there. And later there is the party at the children's home.

Tsubasa remembers Susie's words last night.

"So you a orphan?"

A children's home? He's spent to much time in one of those.

But the children would be glad to have a new face in the crowd. Perhaps they will take an extra volunteer.

_Ships go sailing far across the sea,_

_Trusting starlight to get where they need to be_

He eats breakfast quickly and then heads out, grabbing a sweater from his suitcase; it lies still packed on the floor by the couch. Tugging a woollen hat over his ears, he heads outside.

His pocket is full of one-dollar bills. Immediately he walks back into the apartment for his gloves and then returns to the sidewalk.

Snow is still falling down, each flake twirling lazily in the air on its way to the ground. He catches one in his palm, and it stands out harshly against the dark blue yarn of his glove.

He smiles.

_When it seems that we have lost our way,_

_We find ourselves again on Christmas day._

Several street-corner Santas call out to him as he passes. "Merry Christmas!" Grinning, he returns their greeting and continues on.

He drops a dollar in every donation box he passes and then finds himself at his destination; here is the park.

_Believe in what your heart is saying, _

_hear the melody that's playing_

Snow lies fresh and untouched on the ground by the pathways. He finds a group of young people and asks to join their game.

Tsubasa is happy again, feeling like a child, crouched behind a flimsy fort of muddied snow, crying out as cold ammunition pelts his coat and falls down his neck.

He makes a few good hits himself, too.

_There's no time to waste, _

_there's so much to celebrate_

And then a voice calls out from the path beside the snowball fight.

"Tsubasa!"

He turns his head, and the snowball he releases falls off track and rolls in the snow, hitting nothing.

A group of eight stands gingerly on the edge of the ploughed pathway, waving their mittens at him. He does not recognise them at first.

They wear brightly coloured snow hats with pom-poms that bob behind them as they race off the path to join him.

They dodge the snowballs flying from both sides of the war zone, tucking and rolling behind the small barrier that's doing nothing to ward off the enemy. And then he realises who they are.

_Believe in what you feel inside,_

_and give your dreams the wings to fly_

Gingka, Madoka, Kyouya. Benkei, Yuu, Kenta, and Ryo. Even Masamune.

They have somehow made it to spend Christmas with him.

_You have everything you need_

He stands up and runs to greet them halfway and is caught in their arms as they hug him hello, yelling "Surprise, Surprise!"

He stands stunned in the midst of the group as snowballs fly around them ad a few find their way to pelt them, but nobody notices.

"How did you get here?"

"We caught the last flight out of Japan last night. Nearly missed it, too", Ryo chuckles.

_If you just believe._

So everything worked out. Maybe missing his flight was for the better after all.

His Christmas wish has come true; he doesn't feel alone anymore.


End file.
